Agenda and minutes

The Chair will introduce those present and make any necessary announcements.

The Chair and any other Councillors who are present will make any declarations as required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Barton as Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were given.

Apologies for absence were received from Nev Turner, Ray and Joan from Braunstone Frith, Wayne Gale and Matt Davinson the City Warden.

The Action Log from the meeting held on 12 September 2017 is attached for information and discussion.

Attendees were asked to note the following update in relation to the Action Log from the meeting held 12 September 2017.

Parking – Councillors and Officers were working to try and alleviate some of the parking problems in the ward. They were looking at speeding issues and had met with the Lord Bach, the Police and Crime Commissioners. Liz Kendall M.P. had been to look at specific problems and a meeting had been held with the City Mayor.

Attendees were asked to note an update from the Councillors. Points made included the following:

·         The Chair stated that information from a recently published list of Leicester primary schools, showed that Christ the King Catholic Primary School, New Parks Primary, Inglehurst and Dovelands were rated within the top ten.  The Chair congratulated the schools, adding that this was a very impressive achievement.

·         Councillors had met to discuss the community meeting budget; various Christmas activities in the ward had been funded through the budget.

·         Meetings had been held to discuss the new building on Western Park. More people would be involved in the building once the contracts had been agreed.

·         The Community Panel in New Parks held a lunch club every week where meals were available at a minimal cost. Councillors expressed their gratitude to the panel members who worked very hard to provide a nutritious meal. Concerns were expressed that austerity was affecting people badly and residents in New Parks were particularly affected by austerity measures.

·         A considerable number of repairs and maintenance work was being carried out on council houses and roads. Officers in Highways and Housing were commended; Councillors said that they worked very hard to deliver services on reducing budgets.

·         It was explained that there had been a number of planning issues in the Ward and while Councillors may not agree with a planning application; legislation made it difficult to refuse the proposal.

·         Some of the issues that Ward Councillors dealt with were problems of a very personal nature.

An officer from the Local Policing Unit will provide an update on policing issues in the Western Ward.

Members of the community were asked to note an update from Police Sergeant Walters on local policing issues. Points made included the following:

·         There had been a lot of issues at Mossgate and the Police had been working hard to identify the young people responsible for the problems. Soft Touch and Youth workers were getting involved in the area

·         Officers were working to tackle knife crime; they had recently stopped a car driven by a 14 year old boy. A large knife and samurai sword had been found in the car. Officers had also stopped another car and had found a hunting knife in the vehicle. Further operations were planned for February.

·         The Leicestershire Police had a Facebook page which provided information on local policing issues.

·         The Police were running a recruitment campaign and also asking for volunteers.

·         At Christmas the local Police had donated and taken selection boxes into Glenfield Hospital for the children.

·         The Police and Crime Commissioner was asking for an increase of 4.5% in the council tax precept to fund the local police and to pay for more officers. Members of the community were invited to give their views on this issue; they could do so on the Leicestershire Police website. The Chair commented that the amount that was paid in the precept was a small part of Council Tax, and therefore a 4.5% increase would represent a very small figure.

An attendee asked whether the images on the CCTV camera on the Black Pad were checked.  It was also questioned whether its current position was the most effective location and whether the camera was facing the right way. It was confirmed that the images were checked and PS Walters responded that the Council had been carrying out a review of their CCTV cameras and as part of this had asked for input from the Police. He was not sure whether the review was finished or whether any conclusions had been reached. It was agreed for the status / positioning of the CCTV on the Black Pad to be checked. Action: PCSO Sally-Ann Morgan.                    

Concerns were expressed about the increased numbers of people riding bicycles without lights, on roads. PS Walters said that the Police needed to prioritise but if an officer observed that happening and was not engaged in other business, s/he would speak to the cyclist.  Cycling Proficiency type teaching still took place in schools and this was an issue that families needed to enforce.

Marie Murray, Housing District Manager will be present to provide an update on housing issues.

The Chair moved the Housing Update forward on the agenda.  Marie Murray, Head of Service, Housing asked attendees to note that a reference to ‘Beers Road’ on page 5 of the Action Log dated 12 September 2017, should read ‘Speers Road’

The update on Housing issues included the following:

·         The majority of the environmental projects planned for 2017/18 had been completed

·         The environmental budget for 2018/19 was £122500; many of the projects were for the Braunstone Frith areas to make the area more attractive.

·         Housing officers were always looking for projects to improve the area for all residents and also to tackle anti-social behaviour.

·          A resident expressed concerns that the toilets on Aikman Avenue were regularly being vandalised. Marie said she was not sure who owned the toilets there.  Action: Joanne Wicks, Community Safety to check who was responsible for the toilets on Aikman Avenue..

There will be an update on local highways issues.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Robert Bateman, Special Project Manager, Highways. Points made included the following:

·         Consultants had been appointed to carry out the consultation regarding the 20mph zone around the Letchworth Road area.

·         The consultants would be hand delivering information asking residents whether they were in favour of the 20mph zone or against the proposals.  The consultants could be contacted on: letchworthdovelands20mph@arcadis.com

·         At the previous meeting, concerns had been expressed about speeding vehicles on Aikman Avenue; this road was included in the 20mph zone.

·         An attendee asked for Arcadis to be informed that community groups wanted to engage with the consultants.

·         An attendee stated that a yellow van was regularly blocking a pavement on Nevanthon Road. It was confirmed that the Police had been to investigate, but whenever they had been to the road, they had not witnessed any obstruction. In response to a question, it was confirmed that the van was not a Leicester City Council vehicle.

The City Warden will provide an update on local environmental and enforcement issues.

Punum Patel, the Community Engagement Officer read out an update that had been submitted from the City Warden. Attendees were asked to note:

·         62 complaints had been received, most of which related to fly tipping. All the reported incidents of fly tipping had been cleared. A complaint had also been received about cigarette litter on St Oswald’s Road.

·         Because of the problems with fly tipping, the City Warden had been patrolling the Cuffling Drive and Outwood Close areas.

·         The City Warden was currently working with Landlords on Nevanthon Road; this was because of a build-up of waste which was causing a nuisance to residents.

Councillors are reminded that under the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, they should declare any interest they may have in the budget applications.

An update on the Ward Community Budget will be provided at the meeting.

The Community Engagement Officer provided an update on the community meeting budget. Attendees were asked to note that 29 funding applications had been received; 20 of which had been supported. 8 applications were currently being processed.  There was approximately £6500 remaining in the budget, although the outstanding applications received exceeded this amount.

Community Groups could still apply for funding and would need to submit their application on-line. If the application exceeded £500, the deadline for submission was 31 January 2018. Applications for funding for under £500 could be submitted at any time.

Previous recipients of funding from the community meeting budget have been invited to the meeting to provide an update on their projects.

Attendees were asked to note  updates from previous recipients of community meeting funding:

Western Park Festival - Attendees heard that approximately 8000 people attended the festival last year, although it was not possible to be precise about the numbers because people could access the park via different routes.  At the festival there were stalls, crafts, fairground rides, live music, food stalls and activities for all ages. The festival this year would be held on 2 July 2018.

In response to a question, the meeting heard that the beer festival was a totally separate event to the Western Park Festival.

Nelson Mandela – the meeting heard that there would be celebrations held for Nelson Mandela on the Nelson Mandela Park.

New Parks Community Centre – a representative from the Team Troupers Dance Academy stated that they had taken over the New Parks Community Centre and they were now running a community dance school for children.  They had established a New Parks Community Hub. When they had taken over the centre, the occupancy rate had been just 25% but this had now increased to 50%. The group had submitted funding bids and had held very successful events for Halloween and Christmas. Further events, including events for Valentine’s Day and Easter were planned.

Councillors noted that community groups were increasingly working together and asked whether it might be possible for those groups to work alongside the Braunstone Frith and Kirby Frith communities. Attendees heard that discussions had already taken place to this effect.

The next Western Community Meeting will be held on Tuesday 10 April 2018, in a venue to be confirmed.

Attendees heard that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday 10 April 2018; the venue to be confirmed.

Toilet Twinning

A member of the community explained that there was a toilet twining scheme to help people in the under developed world who did not have access to clean water or toilets. The Chair stated that people could apply to join the toilet twinning scheme

The meeting closed at 8.55 pm